Ever After
by Small Lady1
Summary: The passage of time in never ending. Change is inevitible. The ending of one phase of the world-and Filia's-and a hint of the possabilites of the next one. A possible romance?


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Ever After

A Slayers short story

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by: Small Lady

Discreditation: Slayers is unfortunately not mine. Also I suck at spelling and proper grammar so forgive me. 

She had stopped her cleaning of the pottery when she felt it. A slight sound that made her skin crawl. Her elfish ears strained for a sound that could not be heard across the distances, yet it vibrated inside her like a turning fork. She carefully placed down the vase she had been holding and walked to the door. The mild wind blew by her and into the shop, threading through her long golden hair. The sun was shining like there was no other place on earth that it should be at. It was today, then. 

Her hand touched her forehead as she leaned against the door's sill. She knew that everything ends, but not today. It had been such a warm day. A beautiful day, but she thought perhaps it was perfect. A way for things to end. 

Outside the shop, inside the house, she heard the boy moving about. He must have sensed something too for he joined her in the shop. 

"Mama?" he asked with all the innocence of a human eight-year-old. 

"Do you feel it, too, Val?" she asked absently. 

"What is it?"

"It's the end of an era. That is what it is."

Val's face twisted up as he tried to figure out whatever his momma had meant. He could not figure it out, but let it go at that. "Can I help?"

"There won't be anymore work today, but thanks though. Today is an important day." He looked up at her and nodded slowly. "Go get put something which you can transform out of with."

She turned then and smiled down gently at him. Her son blinked up at her with childish golden eyes, but he smiled toothy at her and ran off. His small body darted between the shelves and cabinets with the greatest of ease. It all reminded her of a conversation she had had with the "mystical coldhearted swordsman" from some time back. 

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"He has grown alot, Filia."

She turned her head slightly at Zelgadis's voice. "Yes, he has. That is very normal for a dragon though."

"How does he age exactly in comparison to humans?"

"He ages like a normal human till age three whereas he then goes to a normal aging scale for a dragon." She sipped her tea thoughtfully while she looked at the boy who was sleeping. 

"Why is that?" Zelgadis asked.

"For better protection. With the body of a three year old, they can run about and get away from danger than as an infant."

"I see. Can he transform into his dragon form?"

"Sometimes he'll stop and stare at the sky and watch the birds, but right now, he's too weak for it physically. When he's a little older, he'll be just fine."

"What is a little older to you?"

"Well, he won't reach the age of having an appearance similar to mine till he's about 280 years old. The numbers are just a little scattered, sorta like how humans gauge the aging of a cat for instance. Sixteen the first year, eight for the next two years and four after that." She smiled as he blanched and then resumed heavily drinking his standard coffee.

Filia hung her head as she allowed herself to shut the door and sit on a nearby chair. She wished Jillas was here. His consistent onii-chan! would have been a bit comforting at this point. She could not be wishing for the impossible though. He had fell in love with that widowed fox and married her a couple years after living under Filia's roof. She had been sad to see him go, but you cannot stop the flow of time. She had reached this knowledge through her own experience. Better go change and eat something before we have to leave. 

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The morning air was colder higher up. But she reveried in it. The sunlight was heavily shinning on her wings from this point. Her shadow across the ground was like a cloud moving along the surface. Behind her was the small steel-gray color of Val's own small form. To a stranger, they looked like a strange sight. How was a golden dragon and an ancient dragon together. Were not all the ancients extinct? The story of the Fire branch of the Golden Dragons was not well-known for good reason. Some secrets were best left untold. 

The plowed fields were covered in fine, well-maintenance rows of crops growing. The peasants prospered well around here. She hated that term, but it was not her business to deal with humans. She had done her job of helping save the world. Dragons were mysterious in their goals and she had just stopped asking but accepted. She had to move to a new village every few years so that no one would become too suspicious of her and Val. How would it do to have someone try and lynch or burn them both? Stories of her kind were mostly rumor now. Stories to awe the children with. If only they knew. 

She recognized this place as where the feeling was generating from. She looked back at her son and they flew down into an open field and they both transformed back into their human shapes. She stretched up and out and settled her clothes into nice clean lines. She had bound her hair up and under a hat so it's brightness was hidden. Val was beside her, mimicking her movements in his own way. He looked like a fairly normal child. She produced a comb out of her pocket and combed his hair. He looked up at her in a wolfish manner and she grinned. It was not the time for games however so she hurried him across the fields. 

A house she had visited many times came into view. Far from being a mansion, far from being a cottage. It was a wonderful house, a nice place to go home to. They crossed the yard and through the fenced in yard. A rather large yard. Out in the back, good-sized craters had been artfully hid to look like they had always been there with once small trees had been planted. The house needed a newer coat of paint, but it was still in excellent shape. It was almost funny that the owner was not living inside a town of some sort. 

She knocked on the door, but she somehow knew that there would be no answer. Inside they stepped and she led Val through the maze of rooms till they got to the part of the house that she wanted. She was surprised by the calmness of the house. The peacefulness. She pushed open a door, wondering if anyone would come here even in a week's time if she had not come. She stopped when she felt a familiar aura in the next room. 

"Xelloss," she stated in the clearest matter of fact voice that she could muster. 

"Filia-chan." He turned to her, eyes partly open. They met hers and a thousand words were spoken without a voice. She nodded as Val looked around the hall leading into the room. 

"I see. Does anyone else know?" 

"No. You know where her blood flows. They never would have waited around here. She wouldn't have wanted them to, anyways." 

She nodded and glanced at her son. Xelloss followed her gaze and he smiled at the child. Filia wanted to bristle at him, but decided that he knew better than to mess with the boy. He was not worth anything to the priest anyways. 

Inside the room, the curtains had been dropped back into place, and a strong smell of flowers prevailed. It seemed that Xelloss had taken care of some things. He may have a rotten streak even considering his mazoku state, but even he knew respect. 

"So you sensed it too?" she whispered. 

"I knew it was coming."

"Not today though. It is such a beautiful day."

"Mama? What's wrong?" Filia looked down at Val and then scooped him up into her arms. He was getting to be a big boy, but as long as she could hold him without it being silly looking, she would continue to do so. Val was trying to look around Xelloss's shoulder to see what his momma was looking at, but she turned around. 

"What can I do?" she asked. 

"Her family will take care of things."

"Xelloss...why?"

"Sora wa himitsu desu." She twitched visibly. He smiled broadly and went on, "You always have called me namogami, Filia-chan. You underestimate me though."

"You can care?"

"Hai."

Nothing else was said as she walked outside. He followed her and the child. Val wiggled out of his momma's arms and ran off into the nearby field to chase insects. Filia stood silently thinking back about the past and what was to happen next. 

"I think she was happy to go."

"You really think so?"

"She was fighting though. Humans have to let go though."

"Will you have to 'let go' someday, too?"

"There is a difference in morality and immortality, Filia-chan." 

She tilted her head at him and evaluated his expression. His appearance was as little changed as her own. She had finally became a full-fledged adult while he still remained his non-changing appearance. She wondered if he ever thought to alter his clothes but noticed the slight change in shoes and smirked. Change was slow at times, but it would come. He was watching nothing with his closed eyed expression but turned to her. 

"Humans. They do live such short lives in comparison to us, don't they?"

"Some live in silence, some burn bright. Just like our kinds do. Life will be very different and maybe more lonely than it was before," she whispered.

"Yes. We are very different, but I wonder if L-sama thinks of us as all as one and the same."

"Xelloss?"

He smiled at her so cheerfully that she questioned his sincerity and somberness of this day. Just as suddenly his expression went back to being serious and he told her, "She said his name at the end."

Filia was startled at his once again change and was surprised at his new expression. Sadness. It made her feel like she was missing out on something important. "You think...?"

"No, not disillusioned."

"That was not what I was going to say," she said lowering her eyes, "Love transcends."

"Maybe so." 

He turned his back to her and looked up at the sky. She did the same. It was such a perfect day. In the distance you could hear the birds calling to each other. Further away beyond her hearing she knew the local town thrived. It would be a city someday soon. . Val's teal head would come bobbing above the long grass and disappear once again as he landed. His laughter was tinkling and reminded her of her vow.

Today officially ended her life as a priestess She had made a new one that day. She had long ago renounced the title and position but only today was the last article of it gone. Her final job as an almost divine creature was completely out of her care. She had several more good centuries left to live if Xelloss never had a mission to kill her. Maybe they could not be lovers like Amelia had been all starry-eyed about and how Val had mistakenly called him "da da" once had made thing awkward for her. Luckily, he limited his visits now. She served no real purpose to him now. An era had ended. The last one was gone now. The vital heart of it all. 

Lina had been the one in this dimension to be personally possessed by L-sama herself so she had lived so much longer than her comrades. It had been so hard on her when Gourry had finally moved on. Filia had carried a squirming preschooler as she held the then-fragile woman in her arms. That was the first time Filia had ever seen her cry. It had been the last too. Many years had passed since then. It was almost funny in the fact that Filia looked like a young woman in her early twenties while her first real outside friend looked to be permanently stuck on 65. Val had only began to look eight about 11 years ago. Filia closed her eyes and tried to think past the way Lina looked now, all peaceful to the fiery eyed spirited woman of her youth. Her mouth twisted as she thought about what a life Lina had had. Seeing her great-great grandchildren come to her and asking to be taught the "forbidden" magic. Dragons rarely saw their own children so many generations removed since the generation gap was such a great expanse of time. Lina was indeed remarkable. 

Filia looked over at Xelloss. His dark purple hair was blowing by his cheek as he looked at her in setting sun. They had been standing silent for quite awhile, each in their own thoughts. 

"Xelloss, since everyone else from the last battles are gone besides us and Val, what do you think we'll do?"

"There are still mazokus, Filia-chan."

"I know, but there are only two or three lords left, right? I don't think your master would be too interested in ending the world quite yet."

"It has its own new possibilities still."

"We'll never be friends will we?"

"Who says we are not friends now, Filia?"

Her eyes darted up at his face. He was smiling and held his bejeweled cane just as steady as ever. She could not read that expression. Her own eyes had widened and she was searching his own violet ones for any answer. Resolve the new questions that she fought to ask. She gave in and sighed as she looked down, "I suppose we are, Xelloss. I suppose we are."

Xelloss watched her go into the house to say her goodbyes formally. He still had to go notify someone important of Lina's passing, but he had some time. He glanced at the child Val and then back to the house. Lina had said the same. Transcend. Maybe...maybe...

"End of one era, on to the next, Filia-chan," he told the house as he phased out. 

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Author's obligatory notes: My dear friend Shiver and I have a particular bent on X/F though she had to be persuaded by watching Slayers Try a second time over for my benefit. I'm dedicating this to her for introducing me to the madcap world and its rather under defined way of dealing with possible romance that it provides. I really suck at fanfics and I ended it really badly tonight (its a little after 3:30 am) but I wanted to end it. Maybe I'll redo it later. Probably not. Suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated. I would love to be able to write something intriguing. This is not the way I wanted this to end either. It just sorta happened. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write Xelloss serious? Thanks. ^ ^


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